Tribunal case is hopeless. I need help

[desperateforhelphelp]

Hello everyone,

I’m a regular but haven't posted on here for a long while. I have nc as this is very identifying.

I am at my wits end. I have been crying, having panic attacks. I just don’t know what to do.

My daughter has dyslexia but really responds to the spld teaching. My daughter goes to an Independent special school (she is 15) which have been good in a lot of ways but she is making slow progress with her English and Maths for many years now and she has poor executive functioning skills. She also has Developmental Language Disorder.

The school has a ocrlevel 7 dyslexia teacher who provides some 1:1 support but this cannot be ongoign. School mentioned that because my daughter is already taken out for 1:1 for other areas (e.g., her reading, speech and language). They cannot accommodate for her to have additional 1:1 with the SPLD teacher because she will be missing out on even more group learning.

Due to the above, I went an hired an OCR level 5 teacher to support my daughter who is coming on leaps and bounds but is expensive. The teacher recommended that seeing as school cannot provide this provision then I should seek to get this written into her EHCP where she can receive some funding for this.

I have therefore put an appeal to Tribunal (or tribunal is only a couple of weeks now) and I sought an Independent Educational Psychologist who says has done lots of Tribunals and is very experienced and is well versed in Dyslexia. However! Although the EP’s report is good, her recommendations are not specific, quantitied nor detailed. For example, the EP wrote in her report that the “school spld lead” would teach my daughter and will decide the number of hours. I mentioned to the EP that the wording is not specific at all and she should quantify the hours. I told her that it is best to put the qualification of the SPLD lead (e.g., ocr level 7) which provides more flexibility if the school cannot provide this and the LA can commission this instead. She refused.

I asked the EP to state the number of hours of the SPLD teacher to support mydaughter. She said she will write down what our OCR level 5 recommended but she will be unable to justify this.

Additionally, my daughters school have commented that it would be beneficial for my daughter to have some 1:1 support as she has very poor executive functioning skills and some 1:1 is needed but they would need funding. Now when the EP assessed my daughter in school, she said that my daughter really needs 1:1 support in some of her lessons. I said that’s fine. But when I received the EP’s report, she did not write down the number of hours of 1:1 support that my daughter needs. I asked the EP “can you state the number of hours that you feel that my daughter needs at her school”. The EP replied that she cannot state the number of hours without talking to the school first and wants to see what the school has to say. The EP wrote in the report that the school should decide the number of hours(???!!!!). I then challenged her and said you cannot write that in a Tribunal report, that is not specific and leaves it open to interpretation. I challenged the EP further and said to her “Your the EP, this is your job to do. Based on what you’ve seen and the recommendations, how many hours do you feel”. The EP said she couldn’t do that, she will only write down what the school felt my daughter needs, which is 5 hours per week. But commented that she felt that my daughter needed way more than this. I then challenged the EP again and said “If that’s the case, then cannot you specify the number of hours if you feel she needs more than 5”. The EP said she couldn’t do this as she would find it difficult to justify the hours without speaking with the school and will just write down what the school recommended but warned that the LA will only provide this amount. I told her that’s fine but it’s better than not writing anything down or saying “it’s up to the school”.

The EP then added a line about my daughter needing support with her executive functioning skills but provided no strategies on how to support this. I then asked the EP to provide some suggestions on how the TA can support my daughter in this area. The EP said she couldn’t write that down as she didn’t assess my daughter’s executive functioning skills and wasn’t asked to do this. I then annoyingly said “but you are the EP! I am not an EP, how am I suppose to know. I provided you with all the reports on my daughter and it was up to you to use that information, use your clinical judgement and decide where to assess”.

I am at my wits end. I do not know what to do. It is too late for me to find another EP. I don’t think I’m going to get the help for my daughter. I’m just in despair. I keep thinking to myself that I should give up. That this is a lost case. But I can’t as my daughter is struggling. Can anyone help, I am so desperate.

I would go back to the EP reminding them of the SENCOP and guidance for EPs. Their report should be detailed, specified and quantified based on what provision DD reasonably requires in their professional opinion. Do you also have evidence from the specialist teacher?

who says has done lots of Tribunals and is very experienced and is well versed in Dyslexia.

Is this just what the EP has told you or do you know others who have used her?

@Headfirstintothewild

Thank you. I have done all of that. I have sent her the SEN code of practice and legalities of EP but she is just not getting it. She becomes very defensive.

My Teacher has written a letter but said she cannot attend Tribunal so I was hoping that that EP would support our recommendations. My head is just in a mess and it's too late to get another EP,

I received her details from the educational psychologist website which details that she does medico legal reports for Educational Tribunal and she has 20 years of experience in Tribunals- she says, and has never lost a case (she says again),

What should I do next?

Even if the specialist teacher doesn’t attend Tribunals, they can provide written evidence beyond just a letter.

At this point, I don’t think there is much you can do before the Tribunal. Unless you have the money and luck to find another EP with a very last minute slot (is occasionally possible). After the Tribunal I would complain and potentially complain to the HCPC.

Thank you.

I'm not sure if I was being unreasonable or whether the EP was in the right.

The reports should be detailed, specified and quantified and the EP should not be leaving it up to the school to decide on what/how much provision is required. You aren’t unreasonable to expect that.

The EP may not agree with you about exactly what/how much provision DD reasonably requires and they can only comment about what they believe in their professional opinion but that doesn’t mean it is acceptable to issue an inadequate woolly report.

Thank you @Headfirstintothewild

What about the issue with the school spld lead, is it best to put the qualification or write the spld lead?

I have invited her as a witness but should I retract this?

SpLD lead isn’t enough. Qualifications/experience/training need to be explicit.

Whether you continue with the EP acting as a witness depends on whether you think she will add to your case even though she is vague. Are there other areas of support where she less woolly? If you do think you can salvage the situation, I would wait to complain until afterwards. If you don’t want to go ahead with her being a witness, I would complain now because you have little to lose. You may find this late in the day she charges if you cancel.

Thank you @Headfirstintothewild

I thought I was being unreasonable. The whole of her recommendations was wholly which is why I was so angry. I think it would be a risk to take her on tbh.